Adding the spiritual dimension

Part 3 in the Journaling toward God  series

In Part 2 you discovered ten benefits to writing in a journal. You don’t have to be a believer to get these ten benefits from journaling. But imagine how those who call on the power of the Holy Spirit can add a spiritual dimension to their journaling. The results bring more than self-improvement and an enhanced lifestyle. No doubt anyone who journals can enjoy all these benefits. But as a believer, the Holy Spirit adds a mystical dimension to them that unifies your spirit with God.

For example, in commenting on Benefit #6. “Fortify your self-discipline,” I related “When I paired journaling with my prayer time, journaling became a discipline of the highest priority.” The synergism of this combination mystifies me and motivates me to keep returning to those moments when I experience God’s grace.

Journaling heightens the joy of everything you do. By placing your thoughts and dreams, disappointments and dilemmas before the Lord, your journal becomes a spiritual journal where you discover many blessings and graces you never knew were working in your life.

Connecting with God

When you open your heart and your journaling to the Holy Spirit, the floodgates of Heaven open. You will feel a downpour of wisdom, charity (love), understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear acknowledging the supreme power of the Lord.

The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in you as the first fruits of eternal glory. You become alive in the Spirit. Your mind is quicker, your recall fuller, your senses sharper, your self-discipline stronger, your communication clearer, your healing deeper, your creativity freer, your outlook brighter, your laughter happier, your stress calmer, your compassion richer, and your confidence greater.

A spiritual journal keeps your focus on writing about what God is doing in your life. Your journal contains much about your non-spiritual activities but also provides a place to connect everything you are and do with God. Maybe you discover what he is doing in your life as you record your prayers and his answers in your journal. Here you can find clarity, guidance, healing, and comfort during hard and confusing times.

Talk to your best friend

Your journal can be a running conversation with the Lord, building your relationship honestly, openly, and authentically. Talk to him as the best friend you will ever have. Tell him everything in your heart. Your secrets cannot shock him. He already understands the height and breadth and depth of what you are feeling, but you may not — until you have an “A-ha” moment. Or see your tears splashed on the pages of your journal and feel his healing embrace of love.

Journal time is a sacred time to find God within you and discover who you are in him. You pray and journal, writing what’s going on inside your mind and heart so you can reflect on that and discern his will for you. Prayer journaling is not only a time to get to know yourself but time to get to know God. When you know your story, you find your identity in God.

Spiritual lessons

Staying close to the Lord, the Source of all ideas and encouragement gives me much to write about from spiritual lessons learned during everyday experiences recorded in my journal. And much to share of his love and mercy as he heals me of many hurts of the past and calms my fears of the future, such as in the feet-washing incident with my sister, who was dying of cancer and unable to wash her feet.

You can call on the power of our Almighty Creator and trust him to help you sort out what to do with all he created. As you write, ask him to help you discern what to keep and what to reject, what is real and what is fake, what separates the everlasting from the temporal wisp of the wind.

You can make any journal your spiritual journal by including God in what you write. Then you will have a workbook to grow your spiritual life into a beautiful love relationship with God.

Ask Yourself: How can journaling help me connect with God?

Read the series: Journaling toward God

Next in the Journaling toward God series: Part 4: Beginning Your Journal